Sunlight
by shortie990
Summary: There is always sunlight after a storm. Epilogue to Overcast.
1. Mornings

Do not own Orange Is the New Black or any of the characters.

This is a super super sneak peek on something I have been planning for a while now.

Enjoy

* * *

**Sunlight**

_Mornings_

_May 2024_

It was early in the morning and the sunlight was just peeking through the crack in the curtains. It was going to be a beautiful spring day, she thought. Everyday was a beautiful day nowadays.

It had been two weeks since she had given birth to Tessa and three since Issy had come home. Her whole family was finally underneath the same roof. It brought a smile to her face to think that the storm had finally passed.

Her blue eyes fell onto the infant currently attached to her boob. She caressed the soft doughy flesh of Tessa's cheek as she continued to feed her. She loved the soft suckling sounds coming from her daughter.

Piper Chapman never would have through that she would have another baby, let alone Alex's. After Issy had been born, she thought that would be it for her. She would have her one little girl and she was happy with that. She always knew she wanted to have at least one child, but now that she held Tessa in her arms, two was really the perfect number.

The baby began to whimper as she pulled away from the nipple.

"You all full?" asked Piper as she looked down at Tessa. The baby's blue eyes looked up at Piper and stayed there. Tessa was only two weeks old, but was extremely alert already. Piper made a face at the baby before kissing her crown and lifting her up to her shoulder. She continued to kiss the baby's cheek as she rubbed circles along her back. Piper continued to whisper sweet nothings into Tessa's ear as she burped her. A few moments passed before she settled Tessa back into the crook of her arm and rose from her seat. She was currently in the nursery. She had come in here to feed the baby allowing Alex to sleep for a bit in peace.

Piper walked softly out of the room and head back towards the bedroom. Alex was still asleep as she pushed open the door and entered. She slowly walked across the bedroom floor towards the bassinette beside the bed. She kissed a now sleeping Tessa before putting her down in the bassinette.

Alex stirred as Piper climbed back into bed.

"Hi," whispered Alex, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Hi," whispered back Piper with a smile as she lay her head down onto the pillow and looked over at her wife. They didn't say anything for a moment as they continued to just enjoy the quietness that filled the room. Quietness was a rarity nowadays in their household.

"You look tired," stated Alex. "Where you up all night?"

"I slept for a bit."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you need to rest. You're still recovery from major surgery, Alex."

"Next time wake me," murmured Alex after a moment had passed.

"Okay," smiled Piper in agreement. "The next poopy diaper is yours my friend."

"That sounds better!" Alex never would had thought she would get happy to hearing about changing a diaper. But she really wanted to be more hands on in taking care of Tessa. Piper had been taking care of her mostly up until this point. The brunette was still recovering from surgery and needed to take things slowly, but that didn't meant she couldn't change a diaper or two.

The couple continued to look at each other before Alex was pulling Piper closer to her side. "You should sleep," she whispered in her ear. She knew that her wife was exhausted from being up all night feeding their daughter.

"Kay," murmured Piper, not arguing this time. Sleep sounded very good to her ears at the moment. She closed her eyes and immediatly began to drift off beside the warmth of her wife's body. Alex pressed a kiss to Piper's crown before drifting off herself.

However, the couple's peacefulness didn't last for too much longer before the loud wails of the baby filled the room.

"You're up Momma!" whispered Piper as she cracked opened an eye and looked at Alex.

Alex just rolled her eyes as she slowly moved into a seated position in the bed. She winced slightly as an ache of pain ran along her abdomen. She ignored it though as she reached for her glasses on the nightstand and shoved them up the bridge of her nose.

Tessa's cries continued to pierce the air as Alex slowly manoeuvred herself out of bed and made her way over to the bassinette.

"Hey."

She peered over the bassinette as stared down at the baby inside. Tessa's face was scrunched up like a bulldog's. Her small mouth hung open, showing off a two rows of pink gums. Her hands were curled up into two small fist, waving in the air as she kicked her legs, unravelling herself from the blanket, Piper had swaddled her in, earlier.

"Hey," whispered Alex again as she leaned forward and gently lifted the upset baby into the crook of her arm. "What's wrong?"

Tessa's cries settled down slightly at this.

"Huh, what's wrong?" asked Alex again in a soft voice towards the baby. "You're okay." She bounced the baby in her arms until her piercing cries faded into a whimper.

Tessa opened her eyes and stared intensely up at Alex.

A small curved of a smile spread across Alex's face at this. She felt her heart snag as those blue eyes continued to look deeply into her. She would never get use to this feeling, she thought. How her heart felt like it was going to burst with love each time those eyes looked up at her.

Alex brought Tessa up to her shoulder, supporting the back of her head as she kissed the baby's doughy cheek. She closed her eyes briefly, inhaling the sweet powdering scent of her skin. You always heard people talk about that baby smell or how good babies smelt but Alex never really believe it, just thinking it was something people made up. But she now knew it was true. Baby's did smell good.

She patted the baby's bottom, seeing if she was wet. The diaper was bone dry.

"You little..." her voice trailed off as she smirked at her daughter. "You aren't wet at all. You're bone dry. And here I thought I would have to deal with a stinky diaper. You just wanted to be held. Didn't you? You little stinker!"

"Did you just call our daughter a little stinker?" asked Piper from the bed.

"Yeah," replied Alex as she turned her attention to her wife. "She was crying for no reason. She just wanted our attention."

Piper smiled as she lifted herself up onto her elbows and continued to glaze on at Alex and their daughter.

"She knew exactly what she was doing," stated Alex as she made her way back to the bed, holding the baby still against her chest.

Piper just rolled her eyes before laying back down against the pillows. She watched as Alex slid back down beside her with a now sleeping Tessa with her. She automatically reached out and gently caressed the back of her head, feeling the feathery soft hairs that covered it.

"She manipulative this one," joked Alex as she looked down at the sleeping infant.

"She is a Vause," stated Piper as she met Alex's eye. "Those Vauses can be very manipulative."

"Well, you married one," whispered Alex as she leaned forward and captured her wife's lips in a kiss.

"I did," murmured back Piper. She smiled at her wife before once again laying her head back down on the pillow. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft cooing of the baby before falling asleep.

The blonde didn't get to catch up on too much sleep before the squeak of the bedroom door awoke her.

"Mommy?" whispered a small fairy like voice into the room. "Momma?"

"Hey! Did I tell you, you could get up?" cried out Alex from across the room as Issy poked her head inside the room.

Issy giggled in response to Alex's comment. "It's morning," replied the six year old as her feet began to walk across the hardwood floors of the bedroom and towards the end of the bed. "You get up in the mornings."

"Well, who says it's morning?" asked Alex in all seriousness as she peered over her glasses at her stepdaughter. "Maybe it's still night?"

Issy again giggled in response to what Alex had said. The little girl climbed up onto the bed and began to craw across it. "It's not night, silly. The sun's out. It's morning time!"

"I dunno," shrugged Alex as she rubbed Tessa's back. "If it's morning why is Mommy still sleeping?"

"Mommy isn't sleeping anymore," yawned Piper as she forced herself into a seated position.

"See! It is morning! Mommy's awake now!" replied Issy in a matter-of-fact tone towards Alex.

Alex just smirked at the little girl. Despite still recovering from the transplant surgery, Issy was in good spirits. Everything seemed to be going well for her. Her body had yet to reject the kidney that Alex had given her.

Piper motioned for Issy to come sit in her lap.

"Come here, Isa."

Issy smiled at Piper as she climbed into her lap.

Piper immediatly wrapped her arms around Issy's small frame, kissing the soft downy hairs that covered it. These were the moments that she loved and lived for nowadays. These quiet moments spent in bed with her family.

Her girls.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

Julie


	2. Pinkness

Do not own Orange Is the New Black or any of the characters.

A year ago, I posted my first OITNB story, Snowflakes. When I posted that first chapter, I didn't know where it was going really or what it would lead too. I still can't believe really where it has lead to a year later now. It's you guys, the lovely people on this site and who are part of this fandom I have to thank for that. It's because of your support and lovely reviews that keep me going and writing and creating.

I thank you.

I dedicate this to all of my lovely readers out there.

* * *

**Sunlight**

_Pinkness_

_May 2024_

The colour pink surrounded her.

It was everywhere she looked from the little pink socks in the laundry to the cluster of plastic toys piled on the living room floor. She use to see a lot of pink back in the day, but for a much different reason than she did now. She never imaged she would be here now. A mother of two little girls. Or a mother in general. She had never thought of herself as the maternal type. But here she was. Alex Vause, the proud mother of two little girls, who had changed her life for the better.

When she first met Isabelle Nicole Bloom Chapman, she had resisted her in every form. She'd still been pissed off at Piper for cheating on her with Larry and conceiving this beautiful blonde child. But eventually she had tired of being angry and bitter and had fallen back in love with not only Piper, but with her daughter too. And now, they had a daughter of their own too. Tessa Suzanne Vause Chapman was still very much new to the world, but in a funny way, it felt like she had been there forever. She fit so well into their family already. It was like Alex and Piper had been waiting all this time for her arrival before they could really start their lives.

They could finally have their happy ending.

"Momma?"

"Momma!

"MOMMA!"

"Uh? What? Yes, sorry," murmured Alex as she came out of her thoughts and blinked at her stepdaughter.

"Did you even hear what I said?" asked Issy, looking up at Alex with a serious expression. "Mmhm?" She raised her eyebrows slightly, making her an almost exact replica of her mother.

"Yes, of course...no, I didn't." Alex knew there was no point in lying to the girl. She realized that the kid rather be told the blunt truth then some sort of sugar-coded lie. And she tried to treat Issy as much as an adult as she could. "I'm sorry, Kid. What did you say?" The brunette smile down at the six year old. They were currently seated in the living room, underneath a pink bed sheet. They had just finished making a fort out of sheets and chairs from the dining room.

"I was saying that we should sleep down here tonight," Issy replied brightly. "It would be like camping. But we would be indoors."

"We'll run that idea by Mommy first, okay?" Alex had been the one to show Issy how to make a fort out of using just two chairs and draping a sheet over them like she had done as a kid. But she wasn't sure how Piper would feel about it being a permanent fixture in their living room. The house was already kinda in a state and now this new fort probably didn't help matters. Especially, when they were suppose to be having people over later on. Since Piper had never gotten to have a baby shower, they were having a late "Welcome to the World" celebration for Tessa.

"Okay," whispered back Issy with a smile. She held stepmother's eye for a moment longer before turning her attention back onto the giant Doodleart that Red had brought her over the other day, along with number of other colouring books and activities.

"Come on Momma colour with me!" Issy didn't bother to look up as she continued to colour carefully between the lines.

"Okay kid," laughed Alex. She picked up a red marker from the pencil case that lay between them on the floor and slowly began to colour in a flower. She never thought she would ever colour again in her life passed the age of eight. However, here she was, a middle age woman now colouring.

xxx

"I need to take a picture of this," stated Piper as she stuck her head inside the makeshift fort that currently made up her living room.

During, Issy's sickness they hadn't taken that many pictures within the new house. However, since Tessa had been born and Issy was better, that was all that Piper found herself doing. She wanted to capture every moment of her family together. And seeing Issy and Alex together underneath the canopy of pinkness, colouring, how could she not take a picture of it?

"No, you don't!" replied back Alex as she looked up at her wife.

"Yes, I do!" cried Piper in amusement. "You guys are just so _cute_ looking together."

Alex suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Piper seemed to state this every time she saw Alex and Issy together- how cute they were.

"Just let my go get the camera," spoke Piper as she suddenly rose to her feet and went off somewhere in the house to retrieve her beloved digital camera.

"Just use your phone!" called out Alex. She knew that her wife loved her fancy Digital SLR camera but this wasn't some fancy photo shoot. Plus, who knew where the camera was in the mess that was currently their house. By the time that Piper found it, Issy would probably be done colouring.

"I'll only be a moment!" cried back Piper. She knew exactly where the camera was. She'd made sure to find it earlier and put it in a knowing spot for later on tonight. "I know where it is!"

"You're Mommy is a little crazy," stated Alex towards Issy, who was still quietly colouring away.

"Yep!"

Piper soon came back with her camera in hand. She also had brought with her a sleeping infant.

"Here," she spoke as she handed the sleeping baby to Alex. "I thought Tessie should be in the picture too."

The brunette just smirked as she adjusted the warm weight of the infant in her arms. Of course Piper would take Tessa out of her crib where she was suppose to be sleeping and bring her down here for a picture. However, Alex didn't secretly mind. She loved to pick up the little girl whenever she could. If it was possible, she would probably want to carry the infant in her arms all day.

Alex studied the outline of her daughter's small face for a second before glancing over at Piper, who now held the camera up high.

Just then she decided to take a picture of the three of them.

The blonde smiled as she lowered the camera slightly and caught Alex's eye.

xxx

"LOOK! We built a fort!" cried Issy proudly to both sets of her Godparents.

"Whoa!" stated Pete. "I bet Mommy Piper wasn't too thrilled about that!" The English man joked as he looked at the contraption that stood erected in the middle of the living room.

"It's great kid," spoke Nicky at the little girl, who was looking for approval of some sort on the fort.

"Momma helped me!" added Issy with a smile. She was very pleased with herself and the fort her and Alex had made together. It was the best fort in the world, she thought.

"It's very pink," observed Polly as she studied the contraption. She knew Piper, like her husband had said, was probably not thrilled about the fort being there. However, she was sure, the smile that was currently on the little girl's face was all that mattered to her friend. It was nice to see the little girl once again so full of energy and spunk.

"It's beautiful," stated Lorna with an encouraging grin to the little girl.

"You're all invite to come inside and take a look," Issy held open the flap of the fort and looked around at the grown ups in front of her. She stood there proudly as if she was inviting them into her house.

"Why don't you show the boys around first?" suggested Polly as she pushed her two eldest boys forward, Finn and Sebastian. Eli, her youngest was asleep at the moment in Pete's arms.

"Mom...do I have too?" complained Finn in a harsh whisper as he turned to look at his mother. The boy was ten turning eleven and he thought he was too old to be playing in forts, especially if they were pink.

"_Finn_," warned Polly to her son. They'd been through this already on the car journey over. He was to play nice with Issy. She'd been through a lot and whatever she wanted, went.

Finn just frowned at this, but did not argue any further on the matter.

"We can play pirates," stated Sebastian towards Issy. The young toddler, who use to be obsessed with Issy, was much older now at the age of five. However, he was still a little obsessed with Issy.

"Maybe," replied Issy towards the younger boy's suggestion. "It's not really a pirate fort, though."

"What kinda fort is it?" asked Sebastian with deep interest.

"It's a _ninja_ fort!" cried out Issy as she suddenly did some sort of martial arts move before crawling into the fort. "QUICK! THE ENEMY IS COMING!"

"HI YA!" cried out Sebastian as he quickly joined in and followed Issy into the fort.

Finn was not as enthusiastic as his younger brother had been as he crawled slowly into the pink fort.

All the adults laughed and smiled at this little exchange. It was nice to see all their kids getting along like this.

"I'm sorry about the complete mess," apologized Piper as she came into the living room. "Issy and Alex built the thing this morning and she didn't want to take it down."

"It's okay," replied Polly as she glanced over at the blonde.

"Take a seat anywhere you would like," Piper gestured to the number of chairs around the room. She had tired to make it a little easy for people to sit and talk, despite the massive contraption off to the side. "Make yourselves at home."

"Aren't you suppose to be the one sitting?" asked Lorna as she bounced Luca in her arms. "This is your party!"

"My party?" Piper was confused by this.

"Yeah. This is your belated baby shower," replied Polly.

"Oh," stated Piper stupidly. She knew her friends wanted to do something for her and Alex, since they didn't have much when Tessa had been born. However, she felt a little funny about having a baby shower now when the baby was almost a month old.

"So...take a seat Chapman and pretend your pregnant again!" laughed Nicky with amusement. "I'm sure Vause would love that! Where is she, by the way?"

"She's upstairs, changing the baby," replied Piper slowly as Polly was suddenly leading her to a chair.

"Just sit," spoke Polly as she forced her friend down into the chair. "We'll take care of everything from here on out."

"Ok," murmured the blonde back.

xxx

"Give her over here," cried out Lorna with excitement as Alex entered the room with the baby in her arms.

The brunette was a little taken back to see them all here, so soon at least. She had heard the doorbell ring earlier, but she hadn't been expecting them all to arrive at the same time.

"Hey," she spoke, greeting her friends. Her eyes shifted around the room briefly, looking at everyone before settling on Piper. The blonde gave her wife a small smile.

"Here," Alex came around the side of the couch where Lorna was seated and slowly passed over Tessa to her. The baby, who was alert stared intensely up at Lorna's face.

Lorna's face lit up as she cooed and murmured sweet nothings to the infant. She loved babies. Tessa who had only started just to smile or try to at least moved her lips briefly in some sort of smirk. "Aw. She's trying to smile!"

"Ah, it looks like she mastered your smirk!" commented Nicky as she moved closer to her wife on the couch.

"Yeah. She started doing that a couple of days of ago," spoke Alex. When she had first experienced the small twitch of the baby's lips, it had taken her back. Tessa had been smiling since she had been born, but it was usually in her sleep. But this smile was different. Piper said that all babies started to smile around four to six weeks, and it looked like Tessa was on her way to doing the same.

Tessa switched her lips again as she kicked her legs through the blanket. She was clearly trying to communicate with the audience she had at the moment.

"Luca! Careful..._Gentle_..." Nicky pulled her son's hand away from the baby's face.

Alex smiled down at her friends for a moment longer before moving over to where Piper was seated. She greeted her wife with a small peck on the lips before taking the empty seat beside her.

"What happened to playing hostess?"

"Polly happened," replied Piper with a smile. "I'm suppose to pretend I'm pregnant."

Alex quirked an eyebrow at this, pursing her lips slightly at the mention of Piper being pregnant again. As much as she loved having Tessa here now, she did miss Piper's pregnancy bump just a little.

"I wouldn't mind pretending," she whispered as she leaned in towards her wife to kiss her again.

Piper just rolled her eyes and hit her wife on the arm at this statement.

Alex chuckled as she wrapped an arm around Piper's shoulder and kissed the side of her neck.

xxx

"PRESENTS!" cried Issy. "LET'S OPEN PRESENTS!"

"Okay, kid we will," laughed Alex at she touched the back of her stepdaughter's head.

A slight frown appeared on the little girl's face suddenly as she looked up at her stepmother. Her hair was just growing back and was still a little unsure of her head being touched.

"Oh. Sorry," murmured Alex as she realized what she had just done. The look that was currently playing on Issy's face, couldn't help but remind her of a similar look Piper a wore in Litchfield. The brunette immediatly removed her hand from the back of Issy's head and dropped it to her side.

Issy just continued to stare at Alex with big brown eyes before a small smile appeared on her face. "It's okay," she whispered as she slipped her hand into her stepmother's and gave it a small squeeze. She wasn't that upset about it.

Alex felt her heart swell with sudden emotion at how grown up her stepdaughter was at the moment. Issy had always had some sort of wisdom and older spirit about her to Alex since day one. However, it never really stopped amazing her, how grown up this little girl was.

"Can we open presents now?" asked Issy after a moment had passed.

A small smirk appeared on Alex's face at this. "Of course," she answered before leading Issy back into the living room where everyone else was.

"Momma says we can open presents," stated Issy as she let go of Alex's hand and went over to her mother, who was in the middle of breast feeding.

Piper looked up at her eldest daughter for a second before shifting her attention to her wife. She knew that their friends had brought gifts for the baby, but she hadn't planned on opening them. She didn't really see this as a party and more of just a get together. It was rare that she had all her friends here in her house. She just wanted to enjoy the company.

"It won't hurt," spoke Alex, reading the look on Piper's face.

The blonde frown slightly before shrugging her shoulders. "Sure," she replied as she held her wife's gaze for a second longer before looking back at Issy. She smiled brightly at her daughter. "I think there's even one for you," she whispered.

Issy's face once again lit up at hearing this. She hadn't been expecting any presents. She knew that this party was for Tessa, her little sister, and she wanted to be a good big sister and help open her gifts. However, she couldn't help, but fill with glee that she had a present too.

"Here," offered Alex as she pulled up the chair beside Piper and gestured for Issy to take a seat there. "I'll bring you the presents."

Issy nodded her head in response to this before taking a seat in the chair beside her mother.

"WE'RE GOING TO OPEN PRESENTS!" announced the six year old over the conversations of the others.

"Issy! Sshh...inside voice," warned Piper as she lifted Tessa from her boob and brought her up over her shoulder to be burped.

Issy casted a sideways glance at Piper and just smiled sheepishly. She knew she wasn't suppose to yell in the house, but she couldn't help it. She was just so excited and happy at the moment.

The boys continued to play in the fort, not caring about presents. However, the adults did. Polly and Lorna pulled and moved their chairs closer to where Piper and Issy were. Nicky stayed where she was on the couch, keeping an eye on Luca who was playing with some of Issy's Legos with Eli on the floor.

"Alex! Get the camera!" cried out Piper suddenly realizing that they should take some pictures of the gifts being opened.

"Mommy! Inside voice!" spoke Issy at her mother. Her face was deadpan as she continued to look up at Piper with wide brown eyes.

The blonde just stared down at her daughter for a second. She hated when she used her own advice to bite her in the ass like this. She knew that Issy had learnt this little trick from watching Alex and Nicky who did it all the time to her. Piper always seemed to manage to go against her own word.

Mother and daughter continued to look at one another before Issy's face broke out into a smile. She couldn't help, but giggle. She knew exactly what she had just done.

Piper tried to be mad as she rubbed circles against Tessa's back, but she couldn't. It was just so good to see her daughter smile and hear her laughter again.

xxx

"Let me see the little _reebyohnuhk,"_ spoke Red as came into the living room. The Russian woman had just come from working at the new restaurant her and her husband had opened up in Queens.

"Cool your jets, Mommy," laughed Nicky at Red's eagerness to see the baby. It wasn't like she hadn't seen the baby since she had been born.

"I've been workin' all day Nicky. I want to see my little grandbaby," replied Red with a smack to the back of Nicky's head. She was in no mood for her attitude at the moment.

"He's right here!" added Nicky as she held up Luca, who was covered in cake up to Red.

Luca shrieked in glee at seeing Red. The tote reached with his sticky out towards her. He loved his grandmother.

Red's usual serious demeanour was broken as she looked into the smiling face of the tote. "Yes. Yes. There is my little _reebyohnuhk_," she spoke in a softened voice. She immediatly took Luca from Nicky.

"Baba," murmured Luca as he nuzzled his face into Red's neck. He could quite pronounce grandma yet in Russian. So he called Red, Baba for short form.

"Hi Red," greeted Lorna as she came back into the room from the kitchen with Piper.

"Hi," spoke Piper behind Lorna. "We just finished eating, but there's plenty left over if you're hungry."

"No. I'm fine," replied Red. "But thank you." She smiled at the blonde as she hovered by the kitchen doorway. "Take a seat."

Piper smiled at the Russian woman before doing what she was told and yet again taking a seat.

"Where's everyone else?" asked Red as she noted the fort in the middle of the room.

"Polly and Pete took the kids out for ice-cream," replied Piper as she tucked her legs underneath her.

"And your wife?"

"She's upstairs," smiled Piper. "She's changing Tess." The blonde couldn't seem to contain her happiness of thinking about how good Alex had transitioned into motherhood. She'd always been good with Issy. But the blonde had been a little afraid that Alex would find dealing with an infant more challenging. However, Alex had been great so far. She was always willing to change Tessa and such for her.

Red held Piper's gaze at this for a moment longer. "You're happy."

"Very," Piper admitted softly. She down casted her eyes and stared at her hands for a moment, suddenly embarrassed.

"I heard the door," cried Alex from the distance as she came down the stairs. "Are the kids back?"

"Red's here!" called back Piper over her shoulder.

A few moments passed before Alex once again returned to the living room. "Hey Red," she smiled at the older woman seated on the couch, beside Nicky.

"Hello Alex," greeted Red with a smile. "Where's Tessa?"

"She's sleeping." Alex smirked a little at noting the disappointment on Red's face at hearing this.

"Don't worry. She'll probably wake up any moment," added Piper. "She hates sleeping in her bassinet."

"Really?" asked Lorna, surprised to hear this. "All Luca did at that age was sleep."

"Well, Tessa's like her Momma. She likes to cuddle," teased Piper as she looked up at Alex with a smirk.

"Shut up!" cried Alex as she took the seat beside Piper.

"Well, when she does wake up, I'm going to get her," stated Red as she adjusted Luca in her lap and began to bounce him.

"Okay," replied Alex. "She's all yours." She wasn't going to stop Red from going to check up on Tessa. She could use the break from going up and down the stairs. She knew it made her sound old, but she didn't care. She was exhausted.

And as if to make a point, a whimpered echoed from the baby monitor suddenly.

"See," stated Piper, pointing to the monitor.

"Just give it a second," murmured Alex. Sometimes Tessa was able to get herself back to sleep.

The room was silent for a moment or two it seemed as everyone drifted their attention onto the monitor, waiting for something to happen.

Tessa's whimpered softly again before letting out a heart wrenching wail.

"And she's up!" cried out Alex as she began to rise to her feet.

"You sit," stated Red towards the Alex. "I told you I would get her." The Russian gave Alex a stern look, letting her know she was being serious as she rose to her feet, passing Luca back to Nicky.

"Ok," replied Alex as she took her seat again.

"Do as your told Vause!" joked Nicky towards her friend.

Alex just smirked and shook her head slightly at her friend's remark. She resisted the urge to give her the finger. Instead she leaned back in her seat and glanced over at Piper. The blonde met her eye and smiled in response.

A few moments later, Red returned with the baby in her arms. Tessa was out of her blanket and was just wearing a pink onesie now. Alex wasn't a fan of Tessa wearing the traditional soft pink colour for girls, however Piper liked her too. She wanted everyone to know that Tessa was a girl and not a boy. She had that happen to her multiple times when Issy had just been an infant with people mistaking her for a boy.

"Where's her blanket?" asked Piper with worry as she noticed Tessa's small bare chicken legs.

"I took it off of her," replied Red simply as she took a seat back down on the couch. "It's too hot out for a baby to be bundled up like that."

Piper couldn't help but frown at this. She didn't want to argue with Red, who she thought of as a second mother. However, she didn't like to be told on how to raise her daughter. She didn't think it was too hot outside for Tessa to be swaddled in her blanket. The infant usually slept better with it around her.

The blonde held her tongue for a second as she glanced over to Alex for help. Alex just raised her eyebrows and shrugged. She didn't know what to do either. Tessa she was sure would be fine without her blanket for a few hours. It wasn't like it was the middle of winter or anything.

Someone a long time ago had taught Piper to choose her battles and she was falling back onto this wise advise now as she continued to hold her tongue as she studied her daughter from afar. Tessa seemed to be fine at the moment. She wasn't fussing or anything. The infant was perfectly content in the arms of Red.

"She's fine," whispered Alex into Piper's ear as if reading her thoughts.

The blonde glanced back at Alex and smiled weakly. She knew that she was right. Tessa was more than fine at the moment.

xxx

"Red!" cried out Issy in happiness at seeing the older woman. Polly and Pete had just dropped her off back at home after getting ice-cream. It was a little later on in the day now and the Harpers were on their way home.

"Hello my little one," spoke Red with a smile to the six year old. "Did you enjoy your ice-cream?"

"I did!" replied Issy with a smile. She climbed onto the couch beside Red and began to explain to her what type of ice-cream she had.

Red smiled and listened as the little girl chatted away cheerfully to her. She was happy to see the little girl back to her old self.

"Did you see my fort? Momma and me made it!" Issy gestured to the pink structure in front of them. "Mommy wanted us to take it down. But we kept it up. Finn and Sebastian liked it too, even know it's pink and their boys."

"It's very nice," replied Red taking in the fort again.

"Do you want to see inside of it?" asked the six year old as she suddenly got to her feet and pulled on Red's hand.

"Issy!" warned Piper to her daughter. "Red's drinking her coffee at the moment. Maybe...later you can show her the fort."

Issy's face fell at this. She frowned slightly as she looked over at Piper, who was currently breastfeeding the baby. "Okay," she mumbled.

"Hey kid," spoke Nicky. "You still haven't shown me the inside of this beautiful fort you and Vause built!"

Issy's face broke out into a grin at hearing this. She was extremely proud of the fort and was happy to hear that one of the grownups wanted to see it. "Come on then!" she cried as she reached out for Nicky's hand and pulled her to her feet.

Nicky let out a chuckle at the little girl's eagerness all the sudden. "Ok. Ok."

"This better be a fucking good fort, Vause," added Nicky with a whisper as he looked over at Alex. She kept her voice low to make sure that certain ears didn't hear her swearing.

"It is!" Alex grinned sly at Nicky. She had to admit it was a damn good fort, despite it being pink.

xxx

"I got you something," whispered Alex as she reached for something in the nightstand drawer.

"You got me something?" asked Piper in confusion towards her wife. It was night time now and the couple was just getting ready for bed. The blonde had just put Tessa down into her bassinette, where the infant would hopefully sleep for a bit.

"Yeah," replied Alex with a grin. "It's your push present."

"My push present?" echoed the blonde once again in confusion. "But I thought the new washing machine was my push present...no?" Piper pushed her hair off of her face as she climbed into the bed.

"You think a washing machine is your present?!" remarked Alex as she cocked an eyebrow. "You give birth to our daughter and I give your a fucking washing machine!?" She had only bought the washing machine because they had needed a new one and had gotten a good deal on it at the time. And just she had told Piper it was her gift but it was really only suppose to be a substitute until she found Piper's real gift.

"I dunno," shrugged the blonde as she pulled the covers over her legs. "You said it was my gift...so I thought it was. It's a nice gift."

"Well, it's not your proper gift," replied Alex as she got into bed beside Piper. "This is." She then handed over a small box, wrapped in gold paper.

Piper hesitated at first as she took the box from Alex's outstretched hand. She studied Alex's face for a second before looking down at the box in her hand.

"It's not going to bite you," remarked Alex. "Open it."

"Okay," murmured the blonde as she shot her wife an annoyed look.

The room was silent for a moment after this as Piper slowly unwrapped the gold paper from the box. The paper fell into her lap as she lifted the lid of the box and her eyes fell onto the bracelet. It was one of those Pandora bracelets. It had a double leather cord in the colour champagne with a silver clasp. There were four charms on it; a silver snowflake, a round ball like charm covered in purple stones, a gold vintage shaped heart with a pearl in the middle, and a daisy with a chrysoprase stone in the centre of it.

"I was going to get the girls' initials but Issy didn't like how they looked," explained Alex as Piper slowly took the bracelet out of the box. "So instead I let her pick out her favourite, which of course was the purple one. The flower one is Tessa's birthstone. The heart one was my favourite and the snowflake just reminded me of you..."

"So it's our family," stated Piper as she continued to look at the bracelet. Each one of them were represented in someway.

The brunette couldn't help but smile. She hadn't really thought about it like that but she guess it was right. Their family was all there, represented in charm form.

"I love it Alex," whispered Piper as she met her wife's eye. "Thank you."

* * *

Should it be continued? Are you interested in reading another multi-chapter story of this little series of mine? Let me please know in a review.

Thanks for reading.

Julie


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